Poyang Lake was home for 500,000 migratory birds in winter

( chinadaily.com.cn )

Updated: 2012-02-24

On Dec 18, 2011, the Administration Bureau of Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve carried out a survey on migratory birds in cooperation with the Nanji Wetland National Nature Reserve and Duchang Migratory Bird Protection Area. This winter, at least 52 categories of water birds lived at the Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China.

The water birds reached a total of 500,000 with 4,000 of them being white cranes, one of the world's endangered species and first-grade national protection animals. This information is according to the survey conducted on Poyang Lake prior to the Spring Festival.

The survey covered an area of 5,000 square kilometers, including Poyang Lake, Huaihe-Changjiang Water-way, Saicheng Lake and Chihu Lake to the south of the Yangtze River. As many as 21 groups in three large zones were investigated in the survey. The investigation of the main lake region was completed on Dec 18, 2011 and that of the Saicheng and Chihu Lakes were finished on Jan17, 2012.

According to the survey, there were: 300 hooded cranes; 800 white-napped cranes; 4,052 oriental storks; 85,000 cygnets; 108,000 swan gooses; 58,000 white-fronted gooses; and more than 200,000 ducks lived through the winter in this region. The number has significantly increased over previous years.

Edited by Zhao Qian and Rakhee M